


Red Weather Warning

by Writingwife83



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Friendship, Power Outage, Romance, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-05
Updated: 2015-02-05
Packaged: 2018-03-10 15:10:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3294971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writingwife83/pseuds/Writingwife83
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A snowed in Sherlolly one shot. Sherlock keeps Molly at his flat rather late finishing up an experiment. Too bad that by the time they're done, the roads have gotten so dangerous that nobody should be out driving...or maybe it isn't such a bad thing after all. ;)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Weather Warning

**Author's Note:**

> I was hit by more than one blizzard in the past couple of weeks. While I was snowed in during one of them, I decided to write a snowed in Sherlolly one shot. This ended up being really fun. Hope you like! ;)

"Um, Sherlock, we should probably wrap things up pretty soon," Molly said nervously as she peered over her shoulder to look out the window of 221B. All she could see was a haze of white as the snowflakes poured down from the sky.

"Molly, do try to hold that beaker a bit more still, would you please?" he asked, completely focused on pouring and not even acknowledging her comment.

"It's just that, well it does seem to be getting a bit bad outside."

Sherlock barely glanced over toward the window before returning his attention to the task at hand. "Mm, just a few flakes," he said dismissively.

"Ok," Molly said with a sigh as she continued working.

She felt sorry for him lately, so she couldn't say no when he asked (well, more like demanded) that she come over and help him with some experiments. Even though he was allowed to stay in the country on account of Moriarty's TV broadcast, he'd been keeping a lower profile since the Magnussen incident. This had resulted in a few more experiments within the confines of his flat than usual. And a number of times lately, Sherlock had requested her assistance.

Today was one of those days, but it was against Molly's better judgment that she left her flat at all. Snow was predicted to become heavier and heavier as the evening and night went on, and it was always difficult to predict how long these experimenting sessions would go on. She hoped she'd be able to get a cab by the time he was ready to ship her off...

About a half hour later, Molly was busily recording some of the important notes as Sherlock examined the finger inside the container.

"Hmm, I did not expect that...fascinating...Well! That was a success, don't you think?" he said happily, removing his safety glasses.

"What? Oh, yes, I think so. Sorry, I'm just trying to get these findings recorded so I can get going. I don't mean to be rude, but I do need to leave before things get much worse." She continued scribbling away.

Sherlock strolled over to the window. It was awfully quiet in the streets below...awfully white too. That was quite a lot of snow. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket and found that Mycroft had sent him a text.

BEST KEEP YOUR PLANS CLOSE TO HOME TONIGHT, BROTHER MINE...WE'VE ISSUED A RED WEATHER WARNING. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS HAVE MADE TRAVEL TOO DANGEROUS AND NOBODY IS ALLOWED ON THE ROADS. -MH

Sherlock swallowed hard. _Oh dear._

"Ok, all done!" Molly announced cheerfully. "I think that's everything." She pulled off her gloves and threw them in the bin before rushing over to where her coat hung by the door.

"Uh, Molly, I think you might actually have some time to relax a bit," he said nervously.

She laughed as she took her coat off the hook. "Oh, I don't think so, Sherlock. I've got to get home while there are still some cabs crazy enough to be out."

He chuckled. "Well, you see, that's just the thing...there aren't any."

Molly stopped as she was about to put her arms in her coat. "What? What do you mean?"

Sherlock stepped over and handed her his mobile with Mycroft's text open. Molly's jaw dropped as she handed it back to him.

"Sherlock!" she groaned in frustration. She took out her own mobile and began checking a weather report which made her groan again. "The worst is supposed to be all through the night! Now what will I do? Ugh, it's a good thing I put food out for Toby before I left."

Molly tossed her coat back onto the hook and threw her bag down. "Right, well, I suppose I'll have to stay here then."

"Suppose so, yes," Sherlock answered as he rocked on his heels and looked down. He finally made eye contact again. "Tea?"

Twenty minutes later, the two of them sat in the chairs by the fire place and had begun sipping the hot liquid. Molly's eyes traveled over the detective who looked so...picturesque in this setting. He had added a dressing gown over his shirt, and was lounging comfortably in his chair while staring into the fire. It felt so different to see him like this.

"Well," Molly began, unable to sit in utter silence besides the howling of the wind outside "This isn't so bad. This is nice, actually. It could certainly be a lot-"

Suddenly they heard every tiny noise around them grind to a halt and the entire flat went pitch black.

"Worse," Molly finished her sentence with a grimace.

Sherlock jumped up and went to the window. "The entire street is out. Probably won't be quick to restore power either, with the road conditions being what they are...excuse me one moment." He immediately exited the flat and Molly could hear him rushing down the stairs.

A few minutes later he came back up.

"I had to wake Mrs. Hudson. Told her it would be best to sleep in her living room by the fire place tonight."

Molly had to resist the urge to let out a long drawn out _Aaaaw!_ Sherlock's care and concern for the elderly woman always touched her.

"We'll have to do the same," he added.

Molly did a double take. "Sorry, what?"

Sherlock looked at her with an _obviously_ expression. "Yes...why? Would you rather sleep in John's old room and freeze to death without any heat? This fire place will be the only possible source of heat tonight."

Molly literally had to bite her tongue and resist the urge to say _I can think of another possible source..._

"Right, of course. That's fine, whatever you think," she agreed.

Sherlock disappeared into his bedroom for a couple of minutes and came back with a bunch of blankets and pillows. He had also changed. He still wore the dressing gown, but underneath it, he had put on his pajama bottoms and a tee shirt. He set the bedding items next to his chair by the fire, then took out the box of matches above the fireplace. He started lighting a couple of candles and moved one into the kitchen and one onto the coffee table. He took a seat again and looked across at Molly.

"So...here we are." He smiled, eyes shifting nervously.

"Here we are," she echoed and smiled as she pulled her cardigan tighter around her torso. "I hope I didn't lose power at my flat. Though I'm sure Toby can invade my bed and keep warm."

Sherlock watched as she looked away into the fire, but he could see the concern still etched onto her features. He covertly took out his mobile and began tapping away. A few minutes later he heard a chime and looked at the screen.

"Ah, good news, Molly," he announced. "You still have power in your flat. Had some of the nearest homeless network investigate and they said the entire building is lit up inside. Seems Toby should stay nice and toasty while you're away."

"Oh good! Thank you. That would have been bothering me all night!" Molly brought her hand up to her mouth then and and let out a long yawn. "What time is it?"

Sherlock lifted his arm, examining his watch. "Almost eleven."

"Really? Oh, I hadn't realized your experiment went on so late. I should have left a long time ago," she said, more to herself than to him.

Sherlock shifted in his seat, always uncomfortable at the idea of an apology. "Perhaps I...shouldn't have asked you to come, considering the weather."

Molly waved her hand. "Oh no, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I didn't have anything going tonight anyway. It's been, you know...quiet. I suppose we both have a bit more time on our hands lately, don't we?" She smiled.

Sherlock didn't smile in return. "Rather different reasons I would say."

Molly shrugged. "A bit, yes. But that doesn't mean we don't both need a friend...and that's ok, Sherlock. So, blizzard or no blizzard, you know you can text me whenever you want."

His eyes smiled a little as he looked back at her. "I know," he said softly.

She could tell he didn't mean it in a smug sort of way. He meant it exactly as it was. He knew he could call on her friendship anytime, and that was so important. Molly liked the security that had developed between them in the past year or so.

They both had some more tea before the rest of it got too cold to enjoy. Besides, Molly was getting sleepier by the minute. Even Sherlock felt his eye lids getting heavy as he watched the flames dance in front of them.

He watched as she tucked her feet under her and wrapped her arms more tightly around her body. He got up again without explaining, and went to his room. When he came back, he had one of his heavier dressing gowns.

"Here, put this on. You should get up anyway. We can move the chairs." He reached around her, placing the dressing gown on her shoulders as she stood up in front of him, and then she did the rest, slipping her arms into the luxurious garment.

Sherlock moved the chairs and side tables so that there was more space in front of the fire. He put the cushiest comforter on the floor, and then handed one of the other blankets, and a pillow, to Molly.

Sherlock gestured awkwardly to the floor. "You can um, lie closest to the fireplace. I'll just uh, lie opposite you."

"Oh, ok, that's fine." Molly continued holding the pillow tight, almost as some sort of buffer to strange dynamic that was developing. She didn't exactly plan to have a sleepover on the floor with Sherlock when she came over this evening.

They got down onto the blanket and Molly settled in, sinking her head into the lovely pillow. Only Sherlock's bedding would make you feel like you were in a swanky hotel instead of sleeping on the floor. She turned slightly toward the fire, hoping not to make awkward eye contact as Sherlock lay down as well, with his head near her feet.

"Shall I blow the candles out?" Sherlock lifted his head to ask.

"Oh, no, that's all right. It's pretty dark already." Molly reached in her pocket and took out her mobile. "Oh no, my mobile's dead. You have yours?"

"No. Mine went not long after I got the text from Mycroft. I would have charged it earlier, had I known."

Molly shrugged against the floor. "Oh well. I suppose they'll send out the search team if nobody can find us."

"Mycroft is the most likely to send a team, and he knows where we are."

Molly lifted her head a little. "We? He doesn't know where I am."

Sherlock chuckled and she felt it on the floor beneath her. "Of course he knows where you are! Not only does he keep tabs on all my friends, he is especially unaware of who comes and goes from this flat. I can guarantee that he knows we are both here right now."

"Oh," she answered quietly. "I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or worse."

Sherlock lifted his head to look over at her. "Welcome to my world!"

A few minutes of silence passed between them and all that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. Molly was just beginning to feel a wave of drowsiness hitting her when she felt something against her side. She frowned as she turned and looked down her body at Sherlock's face.

"Are you cold, Sherlock?"

"Hmm? No, of course not," he answered instantly.

"But you're...shivering a bit."

Silence from down near her feet.

"Sherlock, if you're cold, maybe we should switch places. You could sleep closest to the fire if you need to."

"No, I'm fine. You're always cold. If we switch places, you'll be shivering so violently I won't be able to sleep anyway," he asserted.

Molly sighed and lay back down for a moment. But then she felt it again, just a little shiver from the legs next to her, and she couldn't stand making him spend the night like this.

She sat up and pulled the blanket off him.

Sherlock sat bolt upright, frowning now. "Molly, it is not customary to steal someone's blanket when you've just ascertained that their body temperature is a bit below normal!"

"Come up here," she said, patting the floor beside her.

"What?"

"Just turn around and put your head up here next to mine. You'll be a little warmer if you're not lying opposite me, and we can also put our blankets together too."

Sherlock's eyes shifted a bit, looking from the floor, to her, to the fire...

"Oh, come on, don't be a baby! I promise I won't take advantage of you," Molly smirked humorously.

Sherlock sighed and finally turned his body around. He placed his pillow next to Molly's and laid down next to her. He had to admit it did feel warmer already, being under both blankets and being next to her torso instead of her feet. This was much cozier. Especially when he decided to turn more toward her...her body fit nicely against his, and his nose ended up right at her hair. He could smell her shampoo, and was passing the time trying to work out exactly which brand and scent it was...he liked it.

"Probably a good thing you're no longer engaged to be married," he said, before thinking better of letting the words out.

Molly felt her heart hammer out an unusually forceful beat. "Oh, um, I suppose. But, I mean, we're just friends so...I'm sure he wouldn't have minded." She did her best to make light of the situation.

Sherlock frowned at the back of her head. "No need to lie, Molly. He'd have to be dead not to mind this. I may be a high functioning sociopath, but that doesn't mean I'm not a human being!" He let out a little chuckle.

Molly was the one to frown then. She turned around slowly so that she was finally facing him. She felt like it was strange to have a conversation facing away from him, but realized when she turned around that this was its own brand of strange. They lay there, her head a little lower than his, both of them facing each other. Molly had to remember how to breathe as she saw the reflection of the fire in his eyes. It looked like flames dancing along the ice. What was she about to say?

"I'm too tired to argue about the sociopath comment right now, but...what did you mean, you're a..." she faltered.

Sherlock's eyebrows lifted. "Sorry, is this news to you? That I'm a human? What did you imagine I was? Some sort of machine who is somehow able to feel cold?"

Molly smiled a little as she propped her head on her hand. She met his eyes again though, looking at him seriously. "You know what I mean," she answered in a whisper.

She could swear that she saw his chest rising and falling faster as he looked back at her. His eyes fell for a moment, she saw him swallow, and then he looked at her again. "Do you think I can't feel...anything?"

Molly shrugged. "Dunno. Sometimes I do. Then sometimes I think you feel more than all of us. But I do have a hard time believing that you feel anything like, well, you know-"

"Attraction."

Molly felt like his voice had just split through her chest like the rumbling of an earthquake, and she wondered if her heart had possibly tumbled out onto the floor between them. The word "attraction" had never sounded quite so amazing as it did coming out of his perfect lips.

"If you think I can't feel that, you're wrong," he whispered slowly. "Do I avoid it? Yes. But that doesn't mean I am somehow immune. I confess, sometimes I wish I was. It's awfully...distracting. Gets in the way of logic and sense."

Molly's eyes flickered up to the window, and she smiled at the snow that continued to come down in sheets. She felt like she was in some sort of dream world tonight. Maybe it was the unusual storm, or the heat from the fire, or the sound of his voice so deep and close, but something gave her the courage to say what she did next.

"Sherlock? Can you do something for me, just for tonight? It's just that, I have a feeling that we're going to wake up tomorrow and carry on with our lives like we normally do, and it'll be like this whole thing never even happened. And that's ok, really! I don't mind, because we're friends. We have that, and that's more important to me than anything else. It really is. But for once, I just want to feel like I'm not the only one who feels something, and wants something. So, if you're as human as you say you are...will you hold me?"

Wide fire lit blue eyes stared back into dark brown ones. He finally drew a breath and opened his mouth. "You want me to hold you?" he asked slowly.

Molly smiled. "Well, if nothing else, it would keep you warm. Besides, there's nothing important to be distracted from right now, so...no harm done."

Sherlock continued looking back at her in silence for a moment, eyes traveling over her face and thinking about everything that was happening. But eventually he shifted, bringing his right arm up and sliding it under Molly and around her shoulders. She responded immediately, wrapping her right arm around his torso and snuggling against his chest.

They were wrapped closely together now, lying in comfortable silence. Molly sighed contentedly and closed her eyes. She could feel the side of Sherlock's face resting against her head, and she could feel his heartbeat on her cheek. He'd obviously relaxed, and this wasn't the awkward, uncomfortable experience she was afraid it might be. It was exactly what she dreamed it would be, and now she felt validated in her request. This was exactly what she needed, and she couldn't imagine being any happier. It felt good to be shown genuine warm affection by this man. She felt like she'd cracked through a thick icy wall and discovered that a fire was hiding behind it.

"Are you comfortable?" he whispered into her hair.

"Too comfortable," she said with a smile against his tee shirt. "Are you ok?"

Sherlock cleared his throat. "I'm just fine, thank you."

"Don't worry; I won't make you do this every time you have to hide out at my flat for the night." She laughed a little.

There was a moment of silence, and then Sherlock added quietly, "No need to make any promises."

Molly hardly knew what to say then. She could only smile to herself and snuggle closer to him. She felt him respond in kind, tightening his grip around her body. And when she felt him turn his head a bit and press his lips to her forehead, she wondered if it was possible she'd already fallen asleep and was dreaming.

"Goodnight, Molly," he whispered onto her skin.

"Goodnight," she answered, and they were both asleep within a few minutes.

* * *

"You can't blame me for wanting to check on him," John said as he, Mary, and Mrs. Hudson climbed the steps to 221B. "I haven't been able to reach him since late last night, and I heard there was a power outage."

"I'm glad you came, John. I heard him upstairs last night, but he hasn't been up yet, and that doesn't seem like him to sleep all night!" Mrs. Hudson said, taking out her keys as they neared the door. "I was getting ready to check in myself."

Mary trudged up with difficulty, holding her belly. "Well, I think he's probably clever enough not to let himself freeze to death. Ugh! God, I hate this winter! It's so cold, and this snow is ridiculous! I cannot imagine being unhappy if I never ever see another snow flake again!"

Mrs. Hudson unlocked the door and opened it, and the second she did, the three of their jaws hit the floor.

Mrs. Hudson's hand flew to her mouth as she tried to hold back the giggles. John shook his head as he turned to Mary.

"Well, you're right," he whispered. "He's definitely clever enough to make sure he doesn't freeze to death!"

There lay Sherlock and Molly, snuggled under blankets, with arms wrapped tightly around each other. The fire had almost completely died next to them. Not that it mattered much, since power had been restored a few hours earlier.

"Oh...my...God," Mary said through her grin. "I take it all back."

"What?" John asked.

As Mary took out her mobile and began getting her camera ready, she excitedly whispered back, "I bloody love the snow!"

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Since There's No Place to Go](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6145396) by [DamselInDeduction](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DamselInDeduction/pseuds/DamselInDeduction)




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